Yellow River Game Ranch

On MLK day, we found out that the Yellow River Game Ranch was having dollar day. I sent out emails and invited people to come with us. My mom, Harriet, my friend Jennifer, her husband Paul, and their son joined Mollie and me for the adventure. We decided to get there early because we knew it would be packed! We arrived at 10. There were cars everywhere, but it didn't look too crowded.
 
We bought our tickets, all kinds of food, and headed into the park for a day of fun! Mollie had an absolute blast! She loves animals. I think it's because she grew up around dogs everywhere. So, she loves to pet, feed, and talk to the animals.

 
Her favorite part by far was the barn at the end and feeding all of the animals. She would ask for more and more peanuts to feed to the goats. She was so funny!

Here are some pictures of the day. I was so glad that Harriet brought her camera for us to take some really cute ones!

                                    She wasn't scared one bit!!!

                                                                So proud of herself!

                                        Trying to figure out what is in the cage...

We had so much fun!! I heard they are doing another one President's day. We might be going back for another fun adventure if anyone is interested in going with us. It was a great way to spend a dollar!!

18 month check-in

I can't believe my little girl is already 18 months! She is becoming so independent... almost too much, but it is so fun to watch her learn new things every day.

 

Mollie's stats:
Height:32 1/4" (62 percentile)
Weight: 24.8 lbs (76 percentile)
Head: 19" (92 percentile)
Diaper: Size 4 (She is starting to show some interest in the potty, but we aren't quite there yet. She will tell me to change her diaper when it is dirty and will ask to go on the potty, but she hasn't figured out that you actually do something on there.)
Clothes: Mollie is currently wearing anything from 18months -2T clothes. She wears smaller shirts and bigger pants.
She is developing well and the doctor is proud of her progress. She was concerned when we talked about speech, but said that we can revisit that in 3 months after the tubes. She said she thinks that will really help with Mollie's pronunciation of words. I feel like it is a little bit better, but I don't know if that is just because I am understanding what she is saying more or if her words are sounding more like real words.

What she is doing:
Mollie is very vocal these days! She loves to talk, whether to herself or to anyone around. She loves to pick up a phone and act like she is talking on it. She also enjoys taking things out of baskets and putting them in other baskets, playing outside, and watching Sprout. Chica is her favorite! She has become very independent. She walks everywhere we go, and she will ask to hold your hand if she is unsure.

Mollie's favorites:
Food: Yogurt (She has become quite a picky eater in the past month. She used to eat everything, now she is very selective about what she wants and when she wants it.)
Drink: Milk (We are only offering her milk and water at this time. We will start to add some juice in very soon.)
Toys: Her kitchen from Christmas from her Gram! She will pretend on that thing all day long. She also loves cars. (She calls them Car -- Wee Wee)
Cuddle: She loves her blanket (Nigh Nee).

Tubes Conclusion

As my alarm when off at 4:30, I realized I got very little sleep that night. I was up praying and getting ready for my little girl to have surgery. Once David and I got ready, we woke Mollie up and put her in the car. I was really worried about her being hungry, so I we dressed her in pajamas she could wear to the hospital. When we got there, David let Mollie play with all the toys in the waiting room while I checked us in. It was all very painless. That put me at a little ease.

Then we were called back to get Mollie's vitals. As we were back there, Mollie did very well with all of it. The worst part was the oxygen machine. Mollie HATES that thing being wrapped around her finger. Finally, we got past that. We were put into a room with a small hospital bed and some toys. We had about an hour before the actual surgery, so we played and walked around the halls of the rooms. Mollie was starting to get very hungry, so we had to do everything to keep her busy.

After about an hour, they came to get Mollie for surgery. David took her back.  (I knew I wouldn't be able to handle seeing her laying there like that.) They put me in a recovery room where we would wait for Mollie to get out of surgery. About 25 minutes later, they brought her in. I was very emotional. It was so sad for me to see my baby on a big hospital bed. She looked so tiny on that big bed. They said she would wake up soon and we would be able to take her home once she was fully awake. It took her about 20 minutes to wake up. We had to wake her up because she had gone into her nap.

After she woke up, she cried until we took the oxygen monitor off her finger (about 1 minute). Then she was completely fine once that thing came off her finger. We gave her a cracker and her water. She was so good! We were able to leave. She slept on the way home, and she was back to herself right when we got home.

We haven't had to have any problems with her ears since. We will go back at the beginning of March for a recheck.